Kate Mechler, Director of Engineering & Construction for Wastewater, Stormwater, and Green Infrastructure Projects, speaks to attendees on June 18.

In case you missed it: Pittsburgh Water hosted our first Water Workshop of 2025 this June, inviting customers and community members to join our water, stormwater, and sewer experts for a deep dive into all things Pittsburgh Water. Launched as a summer-long series last year, our Water Workshops bring Pittsburgh Water’s team of experts into the community to answer pressing questions, discuss our water treatment and distribution process, and inspire confidence in the water Pittsburgh residents rely on every day. Held June 18th at the East End’s Kingsley Association, this year’s content kept things unique for repeat attendees and new faces alike, featuring an increased focus on our city’s complex web of sewer and stormwater systems.

The content of our Water Workshop is designed with engagement and learning in mind, enabling attendees to participate and explore at their own pace while connecting with neighbors.

Water Treatment & Distribution

The discussion kicked off with an engaging overview of our drinking water treatment, testing, and distribution process. Attendees learned how we test and monitor the Allegheny River, the source of our drinking water, for contaminants and turbidity prior to the treatment process, and how an array of clean water laws and regulations work to protect our waterways. Once we draw water from the river, it processes through the Pittsburgh Water Treatment Plant (located across from the Water Works Mall) before arriving at your tap as drinking water. We produce approximately 65 to 70 million gallons of water every day, and it takes an average of three to four days for the water to complete the treatment process. Throughout this process, our team of water quality experts are taking samples and running about 3,000 tests each month to ensure your water is safe and healthy. We also discussed the steps we take to maintain the record low lead levels we’ve seen in our drinking water over the past several years, regularly outperforming state and federal water quality standards.

The final step of our treatment process involves disinfection in our century-old Clearwell. Attendees learned about this 40-million-gallon underground tank that was originally installed in 1912, and its important role in providing our customers with safe, high-quality drinking water. Replacing this crucial component to our treatment process will be the capstone of our Water Reliability Plan (more on this below).

The Clearwell in the process of being installed.

Once treatment is finished, the water enters the distribution system. Through a complex network, water is pumped to reservoirs and tanks that store treated drinking water. As it leaves these storage facilities, gravity creates pressure to push water through miles of pipes to your home or business. Fun fact: our network contains 961 miles of water lines!

Attendees also learned more about the progress of our ongoing water main replacements and lead service line replacement programs. Replacing drinking water mains, which can be roughly 80 years old on average, is a critical step in maintaining service reliability and avoiding disruptive breaks. Each year, Pittsburgh Water replaces 6-12 miles of these mains, replacing any lead service lines we encounter along the way. Service lines are the connection between our water main and your residence, consisting of a public portion on the street side and a private portion from the street to your home. In past decades, these service lines were often made of lead due to its malleability and durability. As years went by and the health risks of lead became more evident, however, the need to remove and replace these service lines was clear. Pittsburgh Water is working to identify and replace every residential lead line, public and private site, within our service area by 2027. With 13,000 replacements and counting, we’re well on our way!

Throughout Pittsburgh, much of our sewer infrastructure is over a century old, and 75% of the system is a combined sewer system, which carries both sewage and stormwater through the same pipes. During heavy rain events, these combined sewers can back up or overflow into our waterways when stressed beyond their capacity, leading to pollution entering our rivers and streams. Since 2018, Pittsburgh Water has constructed several stormwater improvements that use green infrastructure and natural solutions to capture and slow down excess rain before it enters the combined sewer system. That said, considering that much of our sewer system is made up of combined sewers, each of us – even homeowners – has a role to play in helping to prevent flooding, basement backups, and combined sewer overflows into our waterways through responsible stormwater management tools. Permeable pavers, rain gardens, and rain barrels are just a few examples of how we can all help to better manage stormwater runoff.